Study: Sponsoring A Live Music Event Makes Millennials Trust And Recommend Your Brand

Over the past several years, many brands have begun to understand just how important music is to their younger customers, and in an attempt to form stronger bonds with them and to introduce the brand to new audiences, the amount of money being spent on activations and sponsorships in the live music space has grown rapidly. Sponsoring live events can be tough for some companies, as there isn’t often a clear benefit, and knowing whether or not that money was well spent has long been a guessing game.

A recent study conducted by massive live promoter AEG and Momentum Worldwide, a marketing agency focusing on experiences in the music world, shows that when it comes to millennials, this is the place to be. The study looked at how the notoriously tough-to-reach age group feels about brands that do sponsor concerts, parties, and festivals, and there are some interesting insights that every brand should see before deciding where to send marketing dollars:

St. Vincent performs at Outside Lands Music Festival at Golden Gate Park on Friday, August 7, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP)

93% of respondents say they like brands that sponsor live events;

81% say that the coolest brand experiences they’ve ever seen somehow involved music in a live setting;

around 80% admitted that the best and most effective way for brands to connect with them is through a branded live music event; and

those millennials who engaged in a branded music experience come away with a 37% better perception of the brand.

Going to a music event that was sponsored made millennials love that brand more, while those that stayed at home didn’t see the same reactions:

89% like brands that sponsor a live music experience, compared to 63% among non-attendees;

89% perceive those brands as being more authentic, compared to 56% among non-attendees;

83% leave with a greater trust for brands that support a live music experience, compared to 53% among non-attendees;

80% purchase a product from a sponsoring brand after the experience, compared to 55% among non-attendees; and

80% recommend brands that sponsor a live music experience to their networks, compared to 49% among non-attendees.

“The research clearly shows people will welcome brands in their music experiences,” said Glenn Minerley, Momentum Worldwide VP, Group Director, Music & Entertainment, in a statement circulated to the press alongside the findings, also adding that “the interesting challenge now is how to do so in a way that feels more memorable to consumers and valuable to brands than what our industry has delivered in the past. We all need to evolve.”

Millennials are a group that have shown an immense interest not only in music, but in the live space especially. They love going to concerts and festivals, and brand should want to be where they want to be, providing them excellent experiences and hopefully creating lasting bonds along the way. Only just over 1,000 millennials took part in this study, but if these figures are even close to representative of the entire population, it’s clear where brands should consider spending more money.

I am a freelance music journalist based in New York City. My byline has appeared in The Huffington Post, Billboard, Mashable, Noisey, The Hollywood Reporter, MTV, Fuse, and dozens of other magazines and blogs around the world. I love following charts and the biggest and most...